Strong as a bear: Simone Giannelli & Co. are in the Olympic final

What is fighting spirit? What is absolute will to win? Anyone looking for answers to these questions can of course enter the terms into the Internet search engines. Or he watches the volleyball men's Olympic semifinals between Italy and the USA. The Azzurri already looked defeated in the third set, suffered an embarrassing 9:25 set defeat and were behind 1:2. But afterwards Giannelli & Co. provided the best illustrations of how to achieve a sporting resurrection.

Spectacle from the first minute Already in the first two sets, the two teams offered the spectators a great spectacle. In the first period, the Azzurri retained the upper hand 30:28 thanks to a furious comeback, a precise Giannelli and Ivan Zaytsev's rocket smashes. After the first break, Italy kept the US boys at bay with two or three points, but lacked the necessary penetration towards the end of the set. In the tie-break, the USA managed to score the equalizing point with a close 28:26.

Disastrous third movement The shock of losing a point in the finish was obviously very deep for Giannelli & Co. In the third set, the Azzurri appeared as if they had forgotten how to play volleyball in a very short time. Giannelli was even briefly taken out of the game at 4:14. In the end, the scoreboard showed the embarrassing result of 25:9 for the USA - in sets: 1:2 from the Italian perspective.

The resurrection For some experts, Italy may have already been devastated after this disgrace. But the Azzurri clawed their way back into the game in the fourth set, nipping at the heels of the Americans, who initially took the lead again and again, but had to admit defeat to the concentrated muscle power of Ivan Zaytsev in the finish. The Italian attacker drove the US boys into despair with three of his 110 km/h serves and gave his team a 25:22 victory - 2:2 after sets. The crux of the game, as it turned out. In the decisive fifth set, the Azzurri played as if they were all of a piece, and the previously somewhat pale Giannelli also came up trumps again and helped his team to a clear 15:9 victory.

Final on Sunday evening This means that Italy is in the final of the Olympic Games, which will take place on Sunday at 18.15:XNUMX p.m. The opponent still has to be determined in the second semi-final game between Brazil and Russia on Saturday morning. In the meantime, two things are already certain: Simone Giannelli will win his first Olympic medal - and if the Italians also present themselves as strong in the final, there is a very good chance that Giannelli's medal will shine.

Volleyball men, semi-finals of the Olympic Games in Rio Italy – USA 3:2 (30:28, 26:28, 9:25, 25:22, 15:9) Italy: Sottile, Vettori, Juantorena 13, Giannelli 7, Rossini, Zaytsev 21, Lanza 16, Buti 8, Colaci 1, Birarelli 5, Antonov 1 USA: Anderson 25, Russel 14, Sander 10, Lee 9, Christenson 5, Holt 16, Shoji

Thomas Debelyak, SportNews

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Strong as a bear: Simone Giannelli & Co. are in the Olympic final

What a game, what emotions, what a mood, what a victory. Simone Giannelli is in the final of the Olympic Games with the Italian men's national volleyball team. There was a most memorable 3-2 win against the USA in the semi-finals.

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